


Cowardice

by aintweproudriff



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy setting, Gen, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 14:52:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18606769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: A bodyguard to a young king has no fear, not even when he risks his life to commit treason for his beliefs.





	Cowardice

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, an original story! I’m going to test out how posting this works, to see if I want to do it more.

I stood proud and tall, completely still against the red stone wall. My job today, as it had been for the last thirteen years, was to go unnoticed and unflinching until I was absolutely needed. My companion, one of the two I worked with on any given day, stood a few yards to my right, his shoulders squared as well as mine were.   
The king, who was still truly just a boy, sat on the throne between us, but just far enough forward that we could not see his face. Good. We were not important enough to look at him for the entirety of our shift. It had taken all of his reign so far, but a month since he took the throne from his mother, he had stopped shaking every time he sat. I could not abide when someone in a position of power showed fear. After all, I had never even felt fear - the least they could do was try to hide it. It was a weakness, one I did not hide behind as others did.   
I never hesitated when someone was in danger and I could help. As commander of the royal protection team, hesitation borne of cowardice was my number one enemy. It would destroy my team and kill my king if I did not urge individual bodyguards against it. 

On this day, I kept my eyes open, as always, for threats against the young king. Uncommon as they were, if I did not watch vigilantly, I would never see one coming.   
The common crowd came through the court. Small-town governors asked for aid to their village, old women presented the king with a small gift they had worked for months to procure, and small children stood in awe of the boy king’s majesty, unaware that he was as ignorant as they were to the ways of the world.   
It was when a woman with long, gray hair and a flowing maroon robe stepped into the court that I felt a worry in my chest. It was not a fear, understand, but concern: a gut feeling towards action. 

“Your majesty,” she addressed the king, floating past the line of people. “I am the queen of a neighboring kingdom, here to inform you that your knights have found and slaughtered a pen of pigs on our land, despite knowing that the animals had significant religious symbolism for the people in the village.”

The king faltered, and although I could not see his face, I could imagine it. He was petrified. Disgusting. I braced myself to be called forward, to be required to stand in and make business deals for the king. Although I had never done it before, I knew what had to be done.   
Therefore, I knew how he should reply to this, which would quickly spiral into a threat if he did not respond correctly. He should have apologized, and offered to pay for the damage done. What he did instead was sit there, petrified. 

“This offense, unless rectified, could be grounds for a declaration of war," she said, and her voice boomed across the hall. "Although I do not want to commit such a hasty act, I am assured that my kingdom has the resources required to fight a war against yours. I do not believe that your kingdom can say the same."

I willed him to speak, but he could not. As his silence dragged on, I realized what a war would mean for our kingdom. Boys, many younger than the king, would be drafted to fight. People would lay down their lives, entire villages could be destroyed. We would lose progress on our agricultural development, hurting the long-term economy, and then still more citizens, integral to the wellbeing of the kingdom, would be hurt.   
It was against the job description to speak in court unless someone of a higher rank first spoke to me. I would, almost indubitably, be fired if I spoke, for my bonds of friendship tied me to the late queen, not the young king. Despite this, I knew that I never hesitated when someone was in danger and I could help, and my kingdom was in danger.   
"Your majesty," I stepped forward. "I would like to propose a solution."

The king did not know much, but he did know this was wrong. I was little more than a decorative suit of armor against the wall, most days, and certainly far from a royal advisor. He turned to look at me, and I saw scorn burning in his eyes.   
The bodyguard to my side looked at me, his leader, with wide and scared eyes. 

I spoke anyway. "I believe that the best solution to this problem, in order to avoid war, would be to issue an apology directly to the village that has been wronged."

"How dare you think yourself high-ranking enough to propose such a thing," the king spoke for the first time in a few long moments. 

The queen with the long hair pursed her lips, but I saw her smile. I knew she could not speak to pardon me, since this was not her court, but she wanted me to continue speaking.

"Additionally, we should offer funds to pay for a memorial to the slaughtered animals. They were sacred and should be treated as such."

“Absolutely not,” the boy bit. “Our knights did what they thought best under the circumstances. I trust them to defend themselves from whatever threats they perceive. If her majesty-” he nodded to the queen “-wishes to declare war, then we shall accept.”

My feet faltered. War could destroy his domain. How did he not see that?

“In addition,” he swiveled back to look at me. “You are fired for your impertinence and cowardice.”

I bit my tongue before realizing that if I was being let go, I could say what I wanted to the king. The only real threat was beheading, but if I had failed at keeping my country from war, I did not shy away from the prospect of death. 

“I thank the royal family for the opportunity to protect and serve,” I smiled boldly. “Even when the service terminates the opportunity.”

Before I could be rashly sentenced, I saluted my partner and left.

**Author's Note:**

> If you just read this, thank you so much!!! It’s cool that people might want to read my writing apart from fanfic. Let me know what you thought of it, it’d make me smile!


End file.
